There is Richest Juice in Poison-Flowers
by m-is-for-MollyMansfieldMealing
Summary: What if Jacob wasn't the one who was shot when the Islamic extremists captured the board room that day? What if it happened to be the beautiful clinical lead stood next to him? Jonnie (Connie/Jacob) AU one-shot where Jacob wasn't the one lying on the hospital trolley... Title a quote from Keats' very long poem "Isabella" :D
1. Chapter 1

**Had a couple of Jonnie one-shot requests since my last one about the motorway, and I had an hour to spare earlier so here you are!**

 **There's a mean cliffhanger, apologies ;) Those of you who know my fics well know that this could go one of two ways... I'll say nothing more.**

 **It's short, but is only part 1 of, at the minute, 2 parts (the other half I'll update tomorrow) so it will end up around 1,000 words if all goes to plan :D**

 **Hope you enjoy and reviews would be welcomed! -Sophie x**

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Her hands trembled as she held the cold metallic gun in front of her. Connie stood in a standoff with the Nigerian woman, both still bar the rapid rise and fall of their chests and the object the clinical lead just couldn't control. She hated that feeling, of not having power over her own body, but she hated the gun even more. Jacob had gone for it; she'd seen him out of the corner of her eye. But she knew what would happen if the authorities caught him like that. He'd be mistaken for one of them, she was sure of it.

And there was no way on earth she would let that happen.

"Go go go!"

The sounds of the police broke the tense silence as they flooded into the room. Before she knew what was happening, a gun was fired that was not her own and her legs gave way beneath her.

" _No!_ She's one of us!" Jacob roared, immediately dropping to his knees. "Connie listen, you're gonna be alright yeah- Big Mac, trolley now!"

The world became to spin, round and round as if she were on a roulette wheel, with no clue as to where she would land; on Life or Death.

The bullet had penetrated her shoulder, and it was deep: even in her state, Connie knew it was bad.

Everything became staggered, one room jolted to the next as she was whisked away on a trolley. It was there she became aware of the pain: shock and fear has masked it at first, dominating her conscience until she reached the safety net of resus. There she began to scream.

"Connie, Connie you've gotta stay still-" Rita tried soothing her as she attached a thrashing wrist to an IV line. At the foot of her bed, Jacob stood frozen as the scene unfolded before him. He could cope with the blood, Lord knows he'd seen enough of that in his lifetime, and he could even manage with the atmosphere that was heavy with tension and panic.

But the one thing the nurse couldn't stand was the noise. The overwhelming, heart-wrenching screams of pain and terror coming from his beloved clinical lead. Her entire frame shook with the effort of staying alive, of staying with them and her voice cracked as a fresh flood of tears spilled down her face and pooled on the pillow behind her. The woman's freckles glistened with tears of horror, and her eyes mirrored those of a rabbit caught in the headlights as she said the same phrase over and over again in her mind, unbeknown to Jacob, as the world finally went dark;

 _My name is Connie Beauchamp, and I am about to die._

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this is so late, I've just gotten home from watching Suffragette (which was amazing by the way) :)**

 **Anyway, here's part two of two! Hope you enjoy and reviews are welcomed :D -Sophie x**

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"Hey Queen B. The funky doc over there with the big nose pimple said I should talk to you. Might bring you round or something, it sounded a load of… well I won't say what it sounded like but I feel a right fool. Wake up so I don't look like escaped from psych will you."

Partly due to the anaesthetic and partly due to the fact she wasn't sure what was going on, Connie stayed where she was and kept listening to Jacob speak, giving him no clue that she was conscious again. At least she was alive physically; mentally she felt numb and empty.

"You're too stubborn, you know that? Even after little Robyn begged you to wake up last time she visited, you didn't stir." She heard him sigh.

"We all miss you downstairs. Zoe and Dylan are sharing clinical lead until you're back in your heels but it aint the same. The place feels empty. God, I sound like a soppy teenager, you heard me?!" He gave a short laugh and rubbed his face before letting his head rest on his hand, watching the woman's soft, still face that lay flat and pale beneath the start white hospital sheets.

"Actually I hope not, never hear the end of it, how I spilled my heart out at your bedside. I'd be the laughing stock of that ED. Nah, you go on sleepin', bet it's doing you the world of good. You need a long rest after the amount of work you've done, all the stuff you've had to put up with recently. "Go talk to her, it might create some reaction"… that doc was talking out his arse, you stay where you are. We're coping without you, just. Please concentrate on getting better Connie." His voice had dropped to a soft whisper.

"If anything happened to you, I don't- oh god I don't even know what I'd do. Man, I feel guilty enough as it is that it's you laid there and not me. If you don't come back then… Jesus. I wouldn't be able to stay here. Not without you. The guilt would kill me."

By this point Connie had heard enough, and ever so slowly, she opened her eyes.

"Don't feel guilty." Her whisper was barely audible as she looked up into his face, that seemed to blossom into a smile when he realised she was alright.

"Man, don't scare us like that Queen B. Thought I was gonna have to put up with Dylan as clinical lead forever, strutting around with his hands on his hips. Urgh." He pretended to shudder before smiling and gently reaching out to hold her hand.

"I heard everything." Her eyes sparkled. "I had no idea you were capable of those types of feelings Staff Nurse Masters."

"Well, I aim to surprise." He raised an eyebrow. "So how you feeling?"

"Like I was run over. My head's thumping and my shoulder… Well. Let's not talk about that." She cleared her throat and inched herself upright slightly. "How're things?"

"I just told you that. We're coping, just. You concentrate on you."

"Oh I do that all the time anyway." Connie said airily. "I just have the amazing ability to mask it. No, I meant with you. How are you after the whole ordeal? I remember you at the foot of my bed before I blacked out."

"Me?" The nurse asked, taken aback slightly. "Yeah yeah, I'm good. Better than you anyways. It helped that I was the one to patch you up." He nodded towards her bandage, partially concealed by stray wisps of brown hair. "Made me feel a bit better."

Connie deflated slightly and moved her hand so it was clasping his.

"Please don't feel guilty Jacob." She said simply, her eyes pleading with his. As he felt his eyes watering, Jacob quickly stood and cleared his throat, laughing slightly.

"If only it were that easy Bow-champ." He said sadly, glancing down to his shoes before walking away. Before he went too far however, Connie decided something.

"Peckham." She called, watching the muscular figure freeze, before a short shake of the shoulders and he was away again; the faint sound of a chuckle was all there was to know he had visited.

That, and the feeling of wistfulness from the lady lying in the bed. A longing to be held, and to be held only in his arms.


End file.
